Debutants dominate Reggae Warriors squad for America 9s tourney

Jamaica’s Head Coach Romeo Monteith has named several debutants in a 17-man squad to participate in the inaugural America’s 9s Championship in Toronto on Saturday, May 18.

Jamaica is expected to face Canada at 12:20 pm, the USA at 2:20 pm and Latin Heat (combined South American Team) at 4:15 pm.

The debutants –based locally and in Canada - include teenagers Kahil Green, Makhaya Anderson and Lawrence Drummond, a trio, who have been among Jamaica’s top high school players for the past three years.

Their progress has been rewarded with a call up to the senior Nines team.

Jerome Laird and Roland Grey have also been impressive for the Jamaica Defence Force team in recent seasons and are expected to add some speed in the squad.

Other local based debutants include Daniel Morrison and Chawn Henry, both of whom were former standout youth players at Calabar High and Edith Dalton High, respectively. They have transitioned well to the senior club competitions and will feature prominently in the halves.

Mohenjo Thompson and Uriah Martin are the two players based in Canada who will don the Reggae Warriors colours for the first time. Thompson has plenty of experience as he is one of the few remaining players who played in the first ever rugby league club competition on the island in 2005.

The team is also travelling with a match official in Kemoy Whyte who is expected to take the middle in some of the games.

In addition, Jamaica will look to put together a female representative team of players based in Canada to face Canada and Ontario Select teams in exhibition matches.

“The team is looking forward to a good tournament. We have deliberately gone out for some younger players as we have begun the revitalization of our program, the next generation of Jamaica rugby league stars is now, so young players such as Anderson, Drummond and Green are our future,” said Monteith.

“Our veterans will provide plenty of guidance and we are looking forward to a good tournament. We are also excited by the potential to field a female representative team in the tournament. It’s the ambition of all the nations involved to establish full international female teams in the next few months.”

Leighton Levy is a journalist with 28 years’ experience covering crime, entertainment, and sports. He joined the staff at SportsMax.TV as a content editor two years ago and is enjoying the experience of developing sports content and new ideas. At SportsMax.tv he is pursuing his true passion - sports.

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